NVC 对 Julien Pirou 的采访

Afternoon. Allow me to introduce myself: I am an admin of the VK community "Might and Magic: Heroes | Ashan | NVC". We are fans who deeply love the world of Ashan. Recently we interviewed Erwan Le Breton, and it was a great experience, but he recommended we consult you regarding certain questions. This inspired us to want to interview you. If you could answer some of these questions, I would be very grateful:

下午好。请允许我自我介绍：我是 VK 社群 “Might and Magic: Heroes | Ashan | NVC” 的管理员。我们是深爱亚山世界的粉丝。最近我们采访了 Erwan Le Breton，体验很棒，但他推荐我们就某些问题咨询您。这启发了我们想要采访您。如果您能回答其中一些问题，我将不胜感激：

• Tell us about your work experience with the Might and Magic brand. We know you used to be a huge fan. How did it feel as a person to have influence on the development of sequels to your favorite childhood game?
• 谈谈您在《魔法门》品牌工作的经历。我们知道您曾经是超级粉丝。作为一个人，能够对您童年最爱游戏的续作开发产生影响，感觉如何？
• In retrospect, I think I was very young back then, even a bit arrogant. It should have been intimidating. Taking over Might and Magic was a huge responsibility, but I was just excited to be involved. On the other hand, because I didn't feel that heavy pressure, I dared to propose ideas freely, like making a game like Might & Magic X. So I guess there is a bright side to being young and naive.
• 回想起来，我觉得当时的自己非常年轻，甚至有些傲慢。这本该让人感到畏惧才对。接手《魔法门》是一项巨大的责任，但我当时只是为能参与开发而感到兴奋。另一方面，正因为我没有感受到那份沉重的压力，我才敢于自由地提出一些想法，比如制作像《魔法门十》这样的游戏。所以我想，年轻的稚嫩也有其光明的一面。

• You joined Might and Magic during the development period of the Ashan series. If you had a choice, which universe would you prefer to play in?
• 您加入《魔法门》时正值亚山系列的开发期。如果有选择，您更喜欢在哪个宇宙中游玩？
• First of all, I am a fan of the original Might and Magic world. I got into it through World of Xeen and Cloudd of Heaven, and that strange mix of fantasy and sci-fi is exactly what made Might and Magic so unique to me. I know some people don't like the sci-fi elements, but I am definitely not one of them. No wonder I kept pushing to bring that back :D That said, over time, I grew to respect Ashan and Erwan Le Breton's vision for it (and the others who participated in shaping the lore: Kurt McClung, Jeff Spock, Mathieu Gaborit, Richard Dansky...). I still feel that on paper, Ashan was a really strong setting, which sadly was not always translated in the best possible way into the games themselves (Heroes V was probably the worst offender due to being developed when Ashan was still being designed, but even the following games had their own issues in that regard).
• 首先，我是初代《魔法门》世界的粉丝。我是通过《星云之谜》入坑的，那种奇幻与科幻的奇怪混合，正是《魔法门》对我来说如此独特的原因。我知道有些人不喜欢科幻元素，但我绝对不是其中之一。这也难怪我一直不断推动将这一点带回来 :D 话虽如此，随着时间的推移，我逐渐开始尊重亚山以及 Erwan Le Breton 对其的愿景（以及参与塑造该传说的其他人：Kurt McClung, Jeff Spock, Mathieu Gaborit, Richard Dansky...）。我仍然觉得，从理论上讲，亚山是一个非常有实力的设定，遗憾的是，它并不总能被完美地转化为游戏本身（《英雄无敌五》可能是最大的反面教材，因为它开发时亚山还在设计中，但即便是后续的游戏在这方面也有各自的问题）。

• Your favorite character and your favorite faction?
• 您最喜欢的角色和最喜欢的阵营？
• Oh, this is a tough one... It really depends on the game. I'd probably say Adrienne+ Fortress (the swampy one) in the NWC games, and Zehir+Academy in the Ashan games...
• 哦，这很难选……真的取决于具体游戏。我可能会说 NWC 游戏里的埃德妮 + 沼泽要塞，以及亚山游戏里的泽希尔 + 学院……

• Are there any Easter eggs or references in the games that fans haven't seen yet? Could you share them if there are any?
• 游戏中有什么粉丝还没发现的彩蛋或致敬吗？如果有的话能分享一下吗？
• I remember hiding an island of Raving Rabbids in a corner of the Bart Brimstone map of Heroes VII. They would give you an artefact called the Plunger of Doom or something along those lines. Not sure if any player found that one. My favorite easter egg is the fact you can find the Red Room from Twin Peaks in Might & Magic X... Complete with cryptic dwarf speaking in riddles. In Might & Magic X there's also a little cameo by a character called Zakaral, who's chilling out in one of Karthal's taverns. He's actually a villain from the amateur series France Five, a loving pastiche of Japanese Super Sentai shows. This was a double easter egg, as it's a callback to the colorful “Bishops of Battle” all the way back in Might and Magic II, who were also a nod to Super Sentai characters. Last but not least, the two Rakshasas from the Temple of Meow quest in MMXL, Farah and Tamina, are named after my beloved cats... who themselves are named after characters from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (the game and the movie).
• 我记得在《英雄无敌七》的巴特·布林斯通地图角落里藏了一个“雷曼疯兔”的岛屿。他们会给你一个名为“末日马桶搋子”之类的神器。不确定有没有玩家发现那个。我最喜欢的彩蛋是，你可以在《魔法门十》里找到《双峰》里的“红房间”……还有一个说着谜语的神秘矮人作陪。在《魔法门十》中，还有一个叫 Zakaral 的角色客串，他在卡萨尔（Karthal）的一家酒馆里闲逛。他其实是业余剧集《France Five》（一部对日本超级战队剧集的深情戏仿）中的反派。这是一个双重彩蛋，因为它也是回溯到《魔法门二》中那些五颜六色的“战斗主教（Bishops of Battle）”的致敬，那也是对超级战队角色的致意。最后但同样重要的是，《魔法门十》里神庙区（Temple of Meow）任务中的两只罗刹（Rakshasas）——Farah 和 Tamina，是以我挚爱的猫的名字命名的……而她们俩的名字又分别来自《波斯王子：时之沙》（游戏和电影）。

• Can you tell us a little more about Sandro of Ashan? For example, in Heroes 6, he says: I gained immortality by playing with a power older than Asha and Urgash. What are these powers? Could you tell us?
• 能详细说说亚山的桑德罗吗？比如在《英雄无敌六》中，他说：“我通过玩弄一种比亚莎和鄂加斯更古老的力量获得了永生。”这些力量是什么？能告诉我们吗？
• Here Sandro is talking about the power of the Void, which predates the Cosmic Egg. It's a testimony of how things evolve and the iterative nature of video game development. Sandro was always part of the Ashan lore, being the mentor of Markal as told in Heroes V. But apart from the fact he was considered extremely powerful and dangerous—to the point the other factions razed Lorekeep to the ground to be rid of him—nothing was really known about him. A few years later, I found myself working on the Heroes VI Adventure Packs. Several plans were drafted, involving different legendary characters, but we eventually settled on Crag Hack and Sandro because they were name-dropped in Heroes V. This was the moment I officially became part of the writing team, and I really felt it was an interesting challenge: how to be true to past versions of those characters, and at the same time give these new incarnations a uniquely Ashan twist? At the time, Duel of Champions was being developed by another team, and Kurt McClung was helping with their story. As I recall (this was 15 years ago, I might misremember some details :p), it was the Duel of Champions team that came up with the idea of using the Void as a big threat for their campaign. But the Void needed a “champion”, or more accurately a mastermind, and Kurt proposed Sandro could be the one pulling its strings in the background. This was a bit of a “Tetris” moment where many pieces fit together. That's why Sandro was no ordinary, Namtaru-worshiping necromancer. That's what set the “Sandro faction” apart from the “Arantir faction”. That's what made him so dangerous, to the point everyone else would eventually join forces to destroy him and scatter his bones to the wind.
• 这里桑德罗说的是虚空（Void）的力量，它早于宇宙之卵（Cosmic Egg）存在。这证明了事物是如何演变的，以及电子游戏开发的迭代性质。桑德罗一直是亚山传说的一部分，正如《英雄无敌五》所述，他是马卡尔的导师。但除了被认为极其强大和危险——以至于其他阵营为了摆脱他而夷平了学识要塞——人们对他一无所知。几年后，我开始参与《英雄无敌六》的冒险资料片的工作。我们起草了几个涉及不同传奇角色的计划，但最终选定了肯洛·哈格和桑德罗，因为他们曾在《英雄无敌五》中被提及。这是我正式成为编剧团队一员的时候，我真的觉得这是一个有趣的挑战：如何在忠于这些角色过去版本的同时，给这些新的化身赋予独特的亚山色彩？当时，另一个团队正在开发《冠军对决》，Kurt McClung 在帮忙写故事。据我所忆（那是 15 年前的事了，细节可能记错了 :p），是《冠军对决》团队提出了将虚空作为他们战役的巨大威胁的想法。但虚空需要一个“冠军”，或者更准确地说是一个幕后主使，Kurt 提议桑德罗可以是那个在幕后牵线的人。这是一个类似“俄罗斯方块”拼合的时刻，许多碎片完美契合。这就是为什么桑德罗不是一个普通的、崇拜娜姆塔茹的亡灵巫师。这就是“桑德罗派系”区别于“阿兰蒂尔派系”的地方。这就是让他如此危险的原因，以至于最终所有人都会联合起来摧毁他，将他的尸骨散落在风中。

• Given the existence of Bart Brimstone's steamship, is it possible that other steam-related inventions (drills, elevators, pumps, etc.) will appear? Also, what is Bart Brimstone's fate after the events of the game (Erwan said only you can know)? Perhaps some of the dwarves would have adopted steampunk over time, or someone else?
• 鉴于 Bart Brimstone 拥有蒸汽船，是否可能出现其他蒸汽相关的发明（钻机、电梯、泵等）？另外，游戏事件发生后 Bart Brimstone 的命运如何（Erwan 说只有您知道）？也许一些矮人会随着时间的推移采用蒸汽朋克，或者是其他人？
• So to give a little backstory, Bart Brimstone is a character I originally created as the protagonist for a series of Heroes II maps. I was using Crag Hack's portrait, as he was the closest thing that game had to a dwarf hero portrait. I fully admit being heavily inspired by a Warhammer mercenary unit called "Long Drong Slayers", a band of dwarven pirates. Flash forward to 2011 and I'm now working on the Crag Hack Adventure Pack. We've decided to go for a “barbarian pirate” theme (after all, if Crag Hack was Might & Magic’s "Conan", then it was about time for him to have some high-sea adventures). I remembered my old buddy Bart Brimstone, and wanted to use him. A dwarf pirate living at sea would be a bit strange in Ashan, where the dwarves are very much Fire-aligned, so he must be some kind of outcast. Maybe he tempered with Water, which would be seen as a big taboo for dwarves? And if you mix fire and water, you get steam. And thus Bart became a pioneer of steam engines... When we were doing Might & Magic X, I tried to pitch a big expansion which would add a brand new region to explore. Like in World of Xeen, the idea was that the player could freely move between the Agyn Peninsula of the base game and the new territory, and pursue the quests in parallel (although it probably would have opened around the time Karthal becomes accessible in the main quest). What's close to the Agyn Peninsula, and could be reached for instance by taking a ship in the Karthal harbor? The Savage Sea and its islands. And since Crag Hack was already part of Might & Magic X's story, tying both locations made sense. Bart was supposed to be a main questgiver in the Savage isles, and a final chapter would unlock after completing both storylines, which would have dealt with the “election” of the new Pirate King, with Tsuan (from H6) eventually taking the mantle as Pirate Queen. While this plan obviously never came to pass, I allude to these events in Bart Brimstone's scenario map in Heroes VII Trial by Fire. My ultimate masterplan was to introduce the Forge faction in Heroes VIII, where Bart would have been a major figure. More about that below!
• 说说背景故事吧，巴特·布林斯通是我最初为一系列《英雄无敌二》地图创作的主角。我当时用的是肯洛-哈格的头像，因为那是那款游戏中唯一接近矮人英雄头像的东西。我承认我深受战锤佣兵单位“Long Drong Slayers”（一帮矮人海盗）的启发。快进到 2011 年，我正在制作肯洛-哈格的冒险资料片。我们决定采用“蛮族海盗”的主题（毕竟，如果肯洛-哈格是《魔法门》的“蛮王柯南”，那么是时候让他有一些远海冒险了）。我想起了我的老伙计巴特·布林斯通，想把他用上。一个住在海上的矮人海盗在亚山会很奇怪，那里的矮人是非常偏向火系的，所以他一定是某种弃儿。也许他摆弄了水，这对矮人来说是大忌？而如果你把火和水混合，就会得到蒸汽。于是巴特成了蒸汽机的先驱……在做《魔法门十》的时候，我曾试图推销一个大型资料片，增加一个全新的可探索区域。就像《席恩世界》一样，玩家的想法是可以在基础游戏的艾金半岛（Agyn Peninsula）和新领土之间自由移动，并行完成支线任务（尽管它可能是在主线任务中卡萨尔变得可进入时开放的）。什么靠近艾金半岛，并且可以通过在卡萨尔港口乘船到达？蛮荒海域（Savage Sea）及其岛屿。既然肯洛-哈格已经是《魔法门十》故事的一部分，将两个地点联系起来是有意义的。B巴特本应是野蛮群岛的主要任务发布者，在完成两条故事线后会解锁最终章节，这将涉及新“海盗王”的“选举”，Tsuan（来自 H6）最终会接过海盗女王的衣钵。虽然这个计划显然没有实现，但我在《英雄无敌七：烈火试炼》的巴特·布林斯通场景地图中暗示了这些事件。我最终的宏伟计划是在《英雄无敌八》中引入铸造（Forge）阵营，巴特会是其中的重要人物。更多内容见下文！

• In dwarven society, it's stated that King under the Mountains is not a hereditary title, and Grimheim is an elective monarchy. What about the city kings? Is power there hereditary or also elective?
• 在矮人社会中，据说“山底之王（King under the Mountains）”不是世袭头衔，格林汉姆是选举君主制。那么城市国王呢？那里的权力是世袭的还是也是选举产生的？
• Erwan would know for sure, but I always assumed the dwarven cities also elected their monarchs. There's a line in the bible document that says “While a single city may house families from a half-dozen different clans, at important times, such as the election of a new king, dwarves fall out along clan lines before anything else” which I think implies as much.
• Erwan 肯定知道，但我一直假设矮人城市也是选举君主。在圣经文档（Bible document）中有一句话说：“虽然单个城市可能容纳来自半打不同氏族的家族，但在重要时刻，例如选举新国王时，矮人首先会沿着氏族界限分裂”，我认为这就暗示了这一点。

• Erwan mentioned in an interview that the Void is part of primordial magic. Is this true? There are references to the Void being an independent force with its own aspirations and very similar to the "Ancient Ones" from Lovecraft's world. How do you understand the Void? And what is primordial magic for you?
• Erwan 在一次采访中提到虚空是原初魔法的一部分。这是真的吗？有提到虚空是一个独立的力量，有自己的渴望，非常类似于洛夫克拉夫特笔下的“古神”。您如何理解虚空？对您来说原初魔法是什么？
• Erwan is the mastermind of Ashan, so if he said it, then it is true. I don't think the Void is sentient in the typical sense. It's a primordial force that seeks to return the universe to its state before the first stars twinkled (and the Cosmic Egg hatched). It's the devouring darkness that exists when the concept of light doesn't even exist. It's by nature antagonistic to existence itself and mind-shatteringly "alien", which of course brings to mind some cosmic horror tropes. On the topic of primordial magic, this is what the Ashan Compendium has to say: "Prime Magic comes from Asha or Urgash, the Primordial Dragons, and is connected to the spiritual substance born from the Void. It can channel the magical energies from the spirit world to the material world (and vice versa), and control the space-time continuum (to preserve or disrupt it)."
• Erwan 是亚山的幕后主脑，如果他这么说，那就是真的。我不认为虚空具有典型意义上的感知能力。它是一种原初力量，旨在将宇宙恢复到第一颗星星闪烁之前的状态（以及宇宙之卵孵化之前）。它是吞噬一切的黑暗，存在于光的概念甚至尚未诞生之时。它的本质是与存在本身对立的，并且令人心智崩溃地“异化”，这当然让人联想到一些宇宙恐怖的套路。关于原初魔法的话题，《亚山纲要》是这样说的：“原初魔法来自原初巨龙亚莎或鄂加斯，并与虚空诞生的精神物质相连。它可以引导精神世界的魔法能量到物质世界（反之亦然），并控制时空连续体（以保存或破坏它）。”

• What is training like at magic academies? In Heroes 5, mages use spell scrolls and wands. However, in Heroes 7, in the promotional materials for the Mages' Guild, where two wizards are shown dueling, they don't use wands. Is their use a personal preference for the sorcerer? Or does it depend on the school? How do students enroll? Are there faculties for specific schools (fire, earth, air, etc.)? And how does magic work in the lore? Are people simply born with a predisposition to magic and choose their own path? Or do they need to be born with a knack for it and only "feel" one element?
• 魔法学院的培训是怎样的？在《英雄无敌五》中，法师使用卷轴和魔杖。然而在《英雄无敌七》中，在法师公会的宣传材料中，展示了两个巫师决斗，他们没有使用魔杖。这是法师的个人喜好吗？还是取决于学派？学生如何入学？是否有针对特定学派（火、土、气等）的院系？魔法在传说中是如何运作的？人们只是天生对魔法有倾向并选择自己的道路？还是他们需要天生有这种天赋，并且只能“感受”到一种元素？
• Because Ashan is a deeply magical world, and all species are children of the Dragon Gods who are essentially avatars of Magic, I suspect everyone on Ashan can wield magic to an extent. Some have more affinity for it, and maybe even more talent. It's a bit like art: anyone can draw, that doesn't mean everyone wants to become an artist. But with proper dedication and training, you can learn to draw well, even become a master of your craft. Every once in a while, a Da Vinci comes along who is just leagues above everyone else. Maybe because of my own background in Applied Arts, I've come to imagine the Academies as basically art schools with more stuff blowing up :D
• 因为亚山是一个深深充满魔法的世界，而且所有物种都是龙神的子孙，本质上是魔法的化身，我怀疑亚山上的每个人都能在一定程度上使用魔法。有些人对此更有亲和力，也许甚至更有天赋。这有点像艺术：任何人都可以画画，但这并不意味着每个人都想成为艺术家。但通过适当的奉献和训练，你可以学会画得很好，甚至成为大师。每隔一段时间，就会出现一个达·芬奇，他的水平远超其他人。也许因为我自己在应用艺术方面的背景，我开始把学院想象成基本上是艺术学校，只不过多了点爆炸 :D

• Do you think there really could be other worlds beyond Ashan in the Void? Was Sandro right?
• 您认为虚空中真的存在亚山之外的其他世界吗？桑德罗是对的吗？
• I think Sandro did see another universe and other worlds existing beyond the Void. We've hinted in MMXL that it's actually the other worlds of Might & Magic, somewhere out there. But Sandro is a master of deception and manipulation. He uses a nugget of truth and wraps it into lies in order to make others join his cause. In that case, the fact that Ashan is not the only world in the universe is part of his larger “sales pitch”, claiming that Asha is essentially a fake goddess, a tyrant keeping souls imprisoned. But Sandro himself is no great liberator. He saw how the worship of the Namtarus turned the necromancers into a cult, and he finds delightfully ironic to apply the same recipe to further his own goals. But despite branding his faction as the Cult of the Void, Sandro is no fanatic. Like all gurus, it's just a show to keep people under his skeletal thumb. It's all means to an end. My take was always that Sandro, being a narcissist, never saw the Void as anything else than a great source of power. He genuinely believed he could control the Void and bend it to his will. After all, he had survived his first “taste” of it with only a “flesh wound”, if you excuse the pun...
• 我认为桑德罗确实看到了另一个宇宙和其他存在于虚空之外的世界。我们在《魔法门十》中暗示过，那里其实就是《魔法门》的其他世界，就在那个地方的某处。但桑德罗是欺骗和操纵的大师。他用一丝真相包裹在谎言中，以便让其他人加入他的事业。在这种情况下，亚山不是宇宙中唯一的世界这一事实，是他更大的“推销说辞”的一部分，声称亚莎 本质上是个假女神，一个囚禁灵魂的暴君。但桑德罗本人并不是伟大的解放者。他看到对娜姆塔茹的崇拜如何将亡灵巫师变成了邪教，他发现用同样的配方来推进自己的目标具有一种令人愉快的讽刺意味。尽管他把他的派系统称为“虚空教派”，但桑德罗不是狂热分子。像所有的古鲁（Guru）一样，这只是一场秀，是为了把人们压在他的骷髅拇指下。这都是达到目的的手段。我的看法一直是，作为一个自恋狂，桑德罗从未把虚空看作是任何其他东西，只是一个巨大的力量源泉。他真心相信自己可以控制虚空并使其屈从于他的意志。毕竟，他在第一次“品尝”虚空后幸存了下来，只是受了点“皮肉伤”，请原谅这个双关语……

• What happened to Marcus Wolf according to canon? Did he die trying to betray the raiders, or did he spend 20 years in prison and then get released? Might and Magic-Legacy suggests two possible outcomes.
• 根据正史，马库斯·恶狼怎么了？他是在试图背叛突袭者（Raiders）时死的，还是在监狱里待了 20 年然后被释放了？《魔法门十：传承》暗示了两种可能的结果。
• There's no canonical end to Markus Wolf. If he dies trying to escape, well that's where his sorry life ends. If he stays in jail, he lives but is now old and irrelevant, and fades from history. Either way, his role in the great chronicle of Ashan is over.
• 马库斯·恶狼没有确定的结局。如果他在试图逃跑时被杀，好吧，他那可悲的一生就结束了。如果他留在监狱里，他活着但现在又老又无关紧要，从历史中消失了。无论哪种方式，他在亚山大编年史中的角色已经结束了。

• Why did Duke Oswin need Marcus? The game says Oswin had plans for him, which is why he ended up in prison.
• 奥斯温公爵为什么需要马库斯？游戏说奥斯温对他有安排，这就是他最终入狱的原因。
• Oswin needed a patsy. Markus first appeared briefly in Heroes VI. He gets his butt kicked by Irina, who proceeds to kill his uncle Gerhart and seize power in the Wolf Duchy. Oswin find Markus, a bitter man overestimating his own skill and importance, and thinks: “oh, I can use this idiot to further my schemes.” Markus has more than enough motive to foment a rebellion against Gwendolyn and her Griffin allies, Oswin just needs to give him a little push and let him take all the blame.
• 奥斯温需要一个替罪羊。马库斯首次出现在《英雄无敌六》中。他被伊琳娜痛扁一顿，伊琳娜随后杀死了他的叔叔盖尔哈特并夺取了狼公国的权力。奥斯温找到了马库斯，一个低估了自己技能和重要性、满腹牢骚的人，心想：“哦，我可以利用这个白痴来推进我的阴谋。” 马库斯有足够的动机煽动针对格温多琳和她狮鹫盟友的叛乱，奥斯温只需要给他一点推动力，让他承担所有的责难。

• In Might and Magic-Legacy, was the mad knight Montbad under Erebos's magical influence? Or did Montbad simply go mad and have no connection to Erebos's plans? The same question about Salvin.
• 在《魔法门：遗产》中，疯狂的骑士 Montbad 是处于 Erebos 的魔法影响下吗？还是 Montbad 只是疯了，与 Erebos 的计划无关？关于 Salvin 也是同样的问题。
• When Montbard first appeared in Heroes VI, as a “one shot” enemy in the final map of Kiril's campaign (which also featured a few locations that would be revisited in Might & Magic X), it was hinted he had been driven insane over years by the proximity of the Faceless library. He's become obsessed with the idea of the Faceless having infiltrated the realm, even thinking the demon invasion is a Faceless plot. When we meet him again in MMXL, he's gotten worse, and now believes the whole Empire has fallen to the Faceless, and he's fighting back against them in his own way, as an outlaw. The irony is that there is a major Faceless plot—Erebos' plan—unfolding in the peninsula. So he's right... for the wrong reasons.
• 当 Montbad 首次出现在《英雄无敌六》中时，作为基里尔战役最终地图中的一个“一次性”敌人（该地图也包含一些后来在《魔法门十》中重访的地点），暗示他多年来因靠近无面者图书馆而被逼疯了。他开始痴迷于无面者已经渗透进王国的想法，甚至认为恶魔入侵是无面者的阴谋。当我们在《魔法门十》中再次见到他时，情况更糟了，现在他相信整个帝国都已落入无面者之手，他作为一名法外之徒以自己的方式反击他们。讽刺的是，半岛上确实有一个重大的无面者阴谋——厄瑞波斯的计划——正在展开。所以他是对的……但理由是错误的。

• What was Erebos's ultimate goal? War for war's sake? And why did he need Ker-Tal?
• 厄瑞波斯的最终目标是什么？为了战争而战争？他为什么需要 Ker-Tal？
• Erebos was written as a shadow reflection of Uriel (and to a lesser extent Michael) from the Heroes VI campaign. All of them are veterans of the Elder Wars who just couldn't accept the peace of the Twilight Covenant and were determined to rekindle the conflict. After centuries of imprisonment, Erebos escapes the Tomb of a Thousand Terrors into a world where it looks like the Angels have the upper hand thanks to their alliance with the Humans (the Faceless have the Dark Elves, but at this point in history they are really a fledgling nation). After the latest Eclipse war (and the awful stuff Uriel pulled then, as seen in H6), the bond between Angels and Humans is fragile, and Erebos sees a chance to break it forever. He chooses Karthal as the place to set his plans in motion because it's a symbol of that history, being a city "offered" by the Angels to Brian Falcon to seal their alliance. There's also the fact that he considered Michael his nemesis, and Michael died for good at the end of Heroes VI. If Erebos can't destroy the man he'll destroy his legacy. He knows in the ruins below the city there's an old angelic battleship—as the final puzzle reveals, one that Michael himself commanded during the Elder Wars. Erebos intends to use it as a weapon against the Angels and their allies, adding insult to injury. Of course, one "easy" way to defeat Erebos at the end of MMXL is to turn that weapon on him, Indiana Jones-style.
• 厄瑞波斯被写成乌列（以及在较小程度上米迦勒）的阴影镜像，他们都参加过长老战争，只是无法接受《暮光契约》带来的和平，决心重新点燃冲突。在被囚禁了几个世纪后，厄瑞波斯从千怖之墓（Tomb of a Thousand Terrors）逃出，来到一个看似天使因与人类结盟而占上风的世界（无面者有黑暗精灵，但在历史上的这个节点上，他们还只是一个新兴国家）。在最近的日蚀战争之后（以及乌列在当时干的那些可怕勾当，见英雄无敌六），天使与人类之间的纽带是脆弱的，厄瑞波斯看到了永远打破它的机会。他选择卡萨尔作为实施计划的地点，因为它是那段历史的象征，那是天使“献给”布莱恩·法尔肯以巩固他们联盟的城市。还有一个事实是，他认为米迦勒是他的死敌，而米迦勒在《英雄无敌六》结束时彻底死掉了。如果厄瑞波斯不能摧毁这个人，他就会摧毁他的遗产。他知道在城市下方的废墟中有一艘古老的天使战舰——正如最后的谜题所揭示的那样，那是米迦勒本人在远古战争期间指挥的战舰。厄瑞波斯打算把它当作对付天使及其盟友的武器，雪上加霜。当然，在《魔法门十》结束时，一个“简单”的击败厄瑞波斯的方法就是像印第安纳·琼斯那样，把那件武器对准他。

• At what age did Vayaron begin training with Erebos? Why did he choose Vayaron as his protégé?
• 瓦亚隆是在几岁开始跟随厄瑞波斯训练的？为什么他选择瓦亚隆作为门徒？
• Vayaron was first a protégé of Salvin, Queen Tuidhana's last consort and Eruina's father (and of course, secondary antagonist in MMXL). Enraged by Tuidhana's death, Salvin sided with Erebos when the Faceless offered him a path to vengeance. Erebos saw in Vayaron a natural-born assassin, and took a special interest in him, encouraging his worst impulses to groom him into a deadly blade (I don't know exactly at what age they first came in contact, but I expect Vayaron was still pretty young, probably still a teenager). In the end, while Salvin could be persuaded to see the error of his ways, Vayaron was a fanatic of Erebos through and through and took over his mission long after both of his mentors' deaths.
• 瓦亚隆最初是赛尔文的门徒，赛尔文是女王图德哈娜的最后一任配偶，也是埃莉娜的父亲（当然也是《魔法门十》的次要反派）。赛尔文被图德哈娜的死激怒，在无面者向他提供复仇之路时倒向了厄瑞波斯。厄瑞波斯在瓦亚隆身上看到了天生的刺客潜质，对他产生了特殊的兴趣，鼓励他最坏的冲动，将他培养成一把致命的利刃（我不知道他们最初接触的确切年龄，但我预计瓦亚隆还很年轻，大概还是个青少年）。最后，虽然赛尔文可以说服回头，但瓦亚隆彻头彻尾是厄瑞波斯的狂热信徒，在他两位导师死后很久仍继续着他的使命。

• Erwan told us two versions of Kha-Beleth's origins (1 is Sar-Shazar, 2 is part of Sar-Ilam). Which version did you lean toward? It seems the fandom never received a clear answer.
• Erwan 告诉了我们两个版本的卡-贝勒斯起源（1 是萨-沙扎的一部分，2 是萨-艾朗的一部分）。您倾向于哪个版本？似乎粉丝们从未得到一个明确的答案。
• Sar-Shazzar always felt a bit too obvious to me, so I like the idea that Kha-Beleth is a "shard" of Sar-Elam's soul. One of our goals with Dark Messiah 2 was to answer it once and for all, and close that chapter of the story.
• 萨-沙扎对我来说总觉得太明显了，所以我喜欢卡-贝勒斯是萨-艾朗灵魂的一个“碎片”这个想法。我们与《黑暗弥赛亚 2》的目标之一，就是一劳永逸地解决这个问题，并结束故事的这一章。

• If Kha-Beleth is not a true demon, then what is Sareth in essence? A human? An incubus? A demigod?
• 如果卡-贝勒斯不是真正的恶魔，那么塞拉斯本质上是什么？人类？魅魔？半神？
• That's a question for Erwan.
• 这是给 Erwan 的问题。

• Where was Isabelle during Dark Messiah and what was she doing? Was she looking for Sareth? That Zehir, Godric, Faydaen, and Raelag pulled out the wrong Isabelle? At what point did Biara manage to assume Isabelle's form? When and by whom was the real Isabelle saved? When and why did the demons trap Isabelle's soul in a crystal (phylactery)? In other words, the real Isabelle was soulless all this time?
• 在《黑暗弥赛亚》期间伊莎贝尔在哪里，她在做什么？她是在寻找塞拉斯吗？泽希尔, 哥德里克, 法蕾妲和雷拉格救出的伊莎贝尔是错的那个？拜娅拉是在什么时候成功冒充了伊莎贝尔的？真正的伊莎贝尔是什么时候被谁救出的？恶魔们是什么时候以及为什么把伊莎贝尔的灵魂困在水晶（魂器）里的？换句话说，真正的伊莎贝尔一直以来都是没有灵魂的？
• Jeff Spock answered a few of these points in an interview a long time ago. Regarding the soul crystal, as I recall it was needed by Biara to maintain her “Saint Isabel” form for as long as she did.
• Jeff Spock 很久以前在一次采访中回答了其中几点。关于灵魂水晶，据我所忆，拜娅拉需要它来维持她“圣伊莎贝尔”的形态长达那么久。

• Is Andrey Griffin the nephew of Alexei IV Griffin or Nicholas Griffin?
• 安德烈·格里芬是亚历克斯四世·格里芬还是尼科莱·格里芬的侄子？
• According to the official timeline, poor Andrei was Nicolai's nephew. Which implies Nicolai had a brother or sister we haven't met, or maybe a cousin.
• 根据官方时间线，可怜的安德烈是尼科莱的侄子。这意味着尼科莱有一个我们未曾谋面的兄弟或姐妹，或者是堂兄弟姐妹。

• Hangvul lost an arm and an eye in captivity to the dark elves. Erwan told us he restored them by creating a prosthesis out of twilight steel, a "dark mithril" metal that is a reflection of Star Silver. How did this prosthesis function? Did Hangvul engrave runes on this metal, and what kind of prosthetic eye did he have? Did he use runes here?
• 汉格瓦尔在被黑暗精灵俘虏期间失去了一只手臂和一只眼睛。Erwan 告诉我们，他通过使用暮光钢（Twilight Steel）制造义肢恢复了身体，这是一种“暗黑秘银”，是星银（Star Silver）的映射。这个义肢是如何运作的？汉格瓦尔在这种金属上刻了符文吗？他有什么样的义眼？他在这里使用了符文吗？
• Hangvul carved his protheses in shadowsteel, a metal thought to have been created by the blood of the Faceless. Considering his hatred for the Dark elves and all things Dungeon, that's a statement in itself. I expect the prosthetic arm, at least, to be “empowered” by rune magic. As far as I know, his eyepatch is not magical, but who knows...
• 汉格瓦尔用影钢（Shadowsteel）雕刻了他的义肢，这种金属被认为是无面者的血液创造的。考虑到他对黑暗精灵和地牢万物的仇恨，这本身就是一种声明。我希望至少那只机械臂是被符文魔法“强化”过的。据我所知，他的眼罩并没有魔力，但谁知道呢……

• It's stated that Titans are created from Starsilver. Was this metal still used in the 960s? Could this metal have run out? And if so, what did the wizards replace it with?
• 据说泰坦是由星银（Starsilver）创造的。这种金属在 960 年代还在使用吗？这种金属会不会已经耗尽了？如果是这样，法师们用什么替代了它？
• Starsilver is said to have fallen from the skies, so it's probably rare and precious. Maybe when it became harder to find, the Wizards started to replace it with more ordinary metal... let's call it “ore” :D It's also possible they melted old titans that were destroyed in battle to make new ones. That's a great idea for a story... titan scavengers!
• 据说星银是从天上掉下来的，所以它可能既稀有又珍贵。也许当它变得更难找时，法师们开始用更普通的金属取代它……我们姑且称之为“矿石”吧 :D 也有可能他们熔化了战场上被摧毁的旧泰坦来制造新的。这是个很好的故事素材……泰坦清道夫！

• The Political System of the Silver Cities. Did Archmage Zehir carry out reforms in the lands of the sorcerers? Did he create a more centralized administrative apparatus (something akin to a bureaucracy), or did the Cities jealously guard their rights?
• 银色城邦（Silver Cities）的政治体制。大法师泽希尔在巫师之地进行了改革吗？他是否创建了一个更集中的行政机构（类似于官僚机构），还是城邦们仍在极力维护他们的权利？
• I don't have an answer, but that's something that could have explored in our pitch for Heroes VIII, as it was supposed to take place after Dark Messiah.
• 我没有答案，但这本可以在我们的《英雄无敌八》提案中探讨，因为它本该发生在《黑暗弥赛亚》之后。

• In MMX, there's a two-handed sword called San Tenga Mugen (the name may be inaccurate due to localization). Its description mentions the Naga Migration Period. Could you elaborate on this period?
• 在《魔法门十》中，有一把双手剑叫 San Tenga Mugen（由于本地化原因，名字可能不准确）。它的描述提到了娜迦迁徙时期。您能详细说明这一时期吗？
• The word used in English for the migration is “Diaspora”. It is described thusly in the Ashan Compendium: "The period that saw the first Demon invasion in the rest of the world is known as The Diaspora to the Nagas. (...) Many warriors and priests left the ruined cities of the deep to seek and study the changes in the world. Discoveries of great wonders of Shalassa above the sea drew more and more followers." The name San Tenga Mugen is actually a reference to the works of Leiji Matsumoto, one of my favorite manga artists. There's a mythical katana with that name appearing in many of his stories. In fact, a few Naga characters in MMXL are named after Matsumoto characters (Yayoi, Kei...)
• 英文中使用的词是“Diaspora”（离散/流散）。它在《亚山纲要》中是这样描述的：“在世界其他地方发生第一次恶魔入侵的时期，娜迦人称之为‘离散期’。（……）许多战士和祭司离开了深海中被毁的城市，去寻求和研究世界的变化。对莎拉萨在海面上方伟大奇观的发现吸引了越来越多的追随者。”名字 San Tenga Mugen 实际上是对我最喜欢的漫画家松本零士（Leiji Matsumoto）作品的致敬。在他的许多故事中都有一把名为此名的神话武士刀。事实上，《魔法门十》中的一些娜迦角色是以松本的角色命名的（Yayoi, Kei...）。

• In Dark Messiah, it was stated that Linna is the last descendant of the Falcons. Is this still canon, or has this fact been retconned? If so, does this mean Linna is a descendant of Anton and Gwendolyn? Or is she related to Duncan?
• 在《黑暗弥赛亚》中，据说莱娜是猎鹰家族的最后后裔。这还是正史吗，还是已经被 Retcon（剧情重启/修改）了？如果是这样，这是否意味着莱娜是安东和格温多琳的后裔？还是她和邓肯有关？
• Leanna is the descendant of Brendan Falcon, Maeve Falcon's surviving son. She is therefore a descendant of Gwendolyn and Anton. After Jezebeth killed Maeve, the Conclave of the New Dawn managed to bring the boy to safety. The Angel Sandalphon even gave his life to protect him for assassins, as shown in the Heroes VII scenario map “Yeshtar's promise”. Murazel kept the boy hidden (if I recall correctly, with help from the Dragon Knights), thus allowing the Falcon line to continue in secrecy.
• 莱娜是布莱登·法尔肯的后裔，也就是玫芙·法尔肯幸存的儿子。因此，她是格温多琳和安东的后裔。在耶泽蓓丝杀死玫芙后，新曙光（New Dawn）议会设法将这个男孩带到了安全的地方。天使圣多芬甚至为了保护他免受刺客杀害而献出了生命，正如《英雄无敌七》场景地图伊诗塔的誓约所示。缪拉泽尔把这个男孩藏了起来（如果我没记错，得到了龙骑士的帮助），从而让猎鹰家族的秘密延续下去。

• Were there any plans for new stories about heroes from the Dark Elf faction, besides Railag?
• 除了雷拉格之外，是否有计划讲述黑暗精灵阵营英雄的新故事？
• I've always liked Eruina and would have loved to give her some spotlight in future games. I'm also partial to Yeshtar, and our version of Kastore.
• 我一直很喜欢埃莉娜，本想在未来的游戏中给她一些聚光灯。我也对伊诗塔和我们版本的卡斯托雷很有好感。

• Were there any plans at any stage to add new factions (subfactions) that we hadn't seen before and that didn't make it to release?
• 在任何阶段是否有计划添加我们以前没见过的新阵营（子阵营），但未能发布？
• Heroes VII came to an abrupt end in 2016 with the release of Trial by Fire. This happened as Ubisoft had decided to close his third party department, Ubisoft Partners, which had been shepherding Might & Magic games until that point. This unfortunately nipped in the bud all our plans for Heroes VII and beyond, as brought the cancellation of the Dark Messiah sequel we were working on. It was a distressing time for everyone involved. Essentially, I had a masterplan for Heroes VII. I was hoping we would do at least 1, but hopefully 2 more expansions for the game, finally catching up with the events of Heroes V and allowing us to move to the post-Dark Messiah era in Heroes VIII. Overall, it was a story in four acts I liked to call the “rise and fall of the Griffin”. Heroes VII vanilla was “Rise of the Griffin”: it saw Ivan seize power and become Emperor. Trial by Fire was “Triumph of the Griffin”: it's Ivan at the peak of his power, now fully legitimate as a ruler. The next expansion would have been “Corruption of the Griffin”. It would have been a sequel of sorts to the events of Clash of Heroes, dealing with the madness of Emperor Oleg due to Sandro's influence. At that time, Sandro is in Lorekeep, having essentially infiltrated and corrupted the Blind Brothers (or at least this particular chapter of the order). We would have followed Alexei IV as he assembles a team of allies to take down Sandro once and for all: characters such as Cyrus, Godric, Nadia as well as Zakera from H6 Shades of Darkness. It would have introduced the Shanriya Sanctuary (the "Ice Nagas" seen in Duel of Champions) as a new faction, as well as Sandro's Nethermancers as an alternate Necropolis line-up. As you can imagine I was really looking forward to this, as a means to finally tell that story after so much build-up. I would have been happy with just doing that one, but even happier if we could have done a third and final expansion, which would have been "The Fall of the Griffin". It would have been about the War of the Eclipse, with Inferno returning, and would have ended with Alexei's death and Nicolai's crowning, bringing us full circle. But it's as they say: the best laid plans of mice and men still come undone...
• 《英雄无敌七》随着《烈火试炼》的发布在 2016 年戛然而止。这是因为育碧决定关闭其第三方部门 Ubisoft Partners，该部门直到那时一直在指导《魔法门》游戏。不幸的是，这扼杀了我们关于《英雄无敌七》及更远未来的所有计划，导致我们正在制作的《黑暗弥赛亚》续作被取消。这对所有相关人员来说都是一段痛苦的时期。基本上，我为《英雄无敌七》制定了一个总体规划。我希望我们能做至少 1 个，希望是 2 个更多的资料片，最终赶上《英雄无敌五》的事件，让我们能在《英雄无敌八》中进入后黑暗弥赛亚时代。总的来说，这是一个我称之为“狮鹫的兴衰”的四幕剧故事。《英雄无敌七》原版是“狮鹫的崛起”：见证了伊凡夺取政权并成为皇帝。《烈火试炼》是“狮鹫的胜利”：伊凡处于权力的顶峰，作为统治者完全合法化了。下一个资料片本该是“狮鹫的腐化”。这在某种程度上是《英雄交锋》事件的续集，涉及 Oleg 皇帝因桑德罗的影响而发疯。那时，桑德罗在学识要塞，基本上已经渗透并腐化了盲眼兄弟会（或者至少是修会的这一分支）。我们将跟随亚历克斯四世组建一支盟友队伍，以一劳永逸地打倒桑德罗：包括塞勒斯，哥德里克，娜迪亚以及来自六代《暗影黎明》的紮库菈等角色。它会引入 Shanriya 圣所（在《冠军对决》中看到的“冰娜迦”）作为一个新阵营，以及桑德罗的虚空法师（Nethermancers）作为亡灵堡垒的替代阵容。你可以想象我非常期待这个，以此作为在这么多铺垫之后终于讲述那个故事的手段。如果能做完这一个我就很开心了，但如果能做第三个也是最后一个资料片就更开心了，那将是“狮鹫的陨落”。它将关于日蚀之战（War of the Eclipse），地狱回归，并以亚历克斯的死和尼科莱的加冕告终，让我们圆满收官。但正如他们所说：老鼠和人类最好的计划仍然会落空……

• Thank you so much for the interactive map of Ashan you created during the development of Heroes 7. I still look at it with interest. Are there any materials on the geography of Ashan that you haven't published but would like to?
• 感谢您在开发《英雄无敌七》期间创建的亚山互动地图。我至今仍饶有兴趣地看着它。关于亚山的地理，还有什么您未发布但愿意分享的材料吗？
• None that I can think of. Apart of course from the lands beyond the map...
• 我想不出有什么特别的。当然，除了地图之外的土地……

• Is there a similar map of Sheogh's territory? I'd be interested to know what it looks like more fully. By the way, some creatures have the abbreviation "Abyssal/of the Abyss." Is that some kind of geographical area?
• 有没有类似的谢尔戈领土地图？我很想知道它看起来更完整的样子。顺便问一下，一些生物有缩写“深渊的（Abyssal/of the Abyss）”。那是某种地理区域吗？
• Sheogh being a realm of chaos, it's always changing, so there's no map for it. I always imagined the Abyss as a huge gaping maw at the center of it all, essentially the mouth of Urgash itself. But maybe Erwan had other ideas.
• 谢尔戈是一个混乱的领域，它总是在变化，所以没有地图。我一直把深渊（Abyss）想象成位于中心的一个巨大的裂口，本质上就是鄂加斯的嘴。但也许 Erwan 有其他想法。

• Tell us where the six Demon Overlords created by Urgash disappeared to. What did they look like?
• 告诉我们鄂加斯创造的六个恶魔领主去哪里了。他们长什么样？
• That's a good question. Erwan probably knows. I always assumed Kha-Beleth absorbed their power one by one, Highlander-style. As for what they looked like... Probably nothing the human eye was meant to see :D
• 这是个好问题。Erwan 可能知道。我一直以为卡-贝勒斯像《高地人》（Highlander）那样一个接一个地吸收了他们的力量。至于他们长什么样……大概不是人类眼睛应该看到的那种东西 :D

• Erwan Le Breton has already told us that all games developed should not contain gunpowder. But if history had continued, do you think it would have appeared in Ashan? If so, which faction?
• Erwan Le Breton 已经告诉我们，所有开发的游戏都不应包含火药。但如果历史继续下去，您认为它会出现在亚山吗？如果是，哪个阵营？
• I wouldn't have used gunpowder, but as mentioned I was hoping to introduce our own version of the Forge somewhere down the line, as a faction of artificers and tinkers creating firearms and machines powered by magic crystals. The idea was that in the post Dark Messiah era, Ashan has been deeply transformed, with Order and Chaos finally in balance (for better or worse). Magic is not as reliable as before (if it ever was), and the Forge believe they can temper it with “science”. This version of the Forge would basically have been the “Free Cities faction”.
• 我不会使用火药，但正如提到的，我希望在某个时候推出我们自己版本的 Forge（铸造），作为一个工匠和修补匠的阵营，创造由魔法水晶驱动的火器和机器。这个想法是，在后黑暗弥赛亚时代，亚山已经被深刻改变了，秩序与混乱终于达到了平衡（无论好坏）。魔法不像以前那么可靠了（如果它曾经可靠过的话），而铸造阵营相信他们可以用“科学”来驾驭它。这个版本的铸造基本上就是“自由城邦（Free Cities）阵营”。

• Are the Thanes, Warlords, and Flame Lords in Heroes of Might and Magic V dwarves? If so, why are they so huge? (Thane, Flame Lord, and Thunder Thane were tier 6 creatures of the Fortress faction. But in Ashan 7, we see them replaced by the Fire Giant and Einherjar, respectively. Why was this decision made? The Ashan Compendium book states that fire giants are dwarves who, after a special ritual involving a volcano, grew in size, effectively becoming elemental-like. This raises another question: what are Thane, Flame Lord, and Thunder Thane? Are the Fire Giant, Einherjar, and Thane, Flame Lord, and Thunder Thane similar, or are they completely different creatures? If so, where do they live and what is their role in northern clan society?)
• 《英雄无敌五》中的领主、火焰领主、 雷霆战神是矮人吗？如果是，为什么他们这么巨大？（Thane, Flame Lord 和 Thunder Thane 是要塞阵营的 6 级生物。但在 Ashan 7 中，我们看到他们分别被火焰巨人和英灵战士（Einherjar）取代了。为什么做出这个决定？《亚山纲要》书上说火焰巨人是矮人，在经历了涉及火山的特殊仪式后，体型变大，有效地变成了类元素生物。这就引出了另一个问题：Thane, Flame Lord 和 Thunder Thane 是什么？火焰巨人、Einherjar 和 Thane, Flame Lord, Thunder Thane 是相似的，还是完全不同的生物？如果是，他们住在哪里，他们在北方氏族社会中扮演什么角色？）
• The short answer is that the Heroes V Fortress line-up does not fit the Ashan lore. This is something we tried to fix with its Heroes VII incarnation.
• 简短的答案是，《英雄无敌五》的要塞阵容不符合亚山的传说。这是我们试图在《英雄无敌七》的版本中修复的东西。

• The Kingdom of Irollan After Faidaen returned and was offered the chance to become the new High King, he declined. Did the tradition of choosing kings through the shared vision of the druids return to the way it was before King Arniel?
• 艾罗兰王国在芬丹归来并被提议成为新的高等精灵王后，他拒绝了。选择国王的传统是否恢复到了阿拉伦（？）国王之前的样子？
• I genuinely have no idea! This would have been something to explore if Sylvan returned in Heroes VIII.
• 我真的不知道！如果森林在《英雄无敌八》中回归，这本来是可以探讨的内容。

• It's stated that if a dwarf is born with golden sparkles in his eyes, he's marked by Arkat and leaves his clan to join a clan of priests. Does this also apply to other dwarves? If a dwarf with a greater predisposition to architecture and art is born into a clan of warriors, does he leave his clan and join them as an apprentice? Could you elaborate on this system?
• 据说如果一个矮人生下来眼睛里有金色火花，他就被阿尔卡斯标记了，离开氏族加入祭司氏族。这也适用于其他矮人吗？如果一个对建筑和艺术更有天赋的矮人生在一个战士氏族，他会离开氏族去做学徒吗？您能详细说明这个系统吗？
• While the golden sparks is a bit of an extreme example (as you are physically marked by the Dragon God so there's no room for debate), I imagine the clans trade apprentices based on their predispositions and talents. It would be a good way to bring “fresh blood” into the clan. It probably leads to long negotiations—it's almost like marrying in another clan, in a way!
• 虽然金色火花是个极端的例子（因为你被龙神物理标记了，所以没有争论的余地），但我想象氏族会根据他们的倾向和才能交换学徒。这会是一种给氏族带来“新鲜血液”的好方法。这可能会导致漫长的谈判——在某种程度上，这几乎就像和另一个氏族联姻！

• In the Seven Cities, and later in the Silver League, the circle of the most powerful mages was called the "Circle of Nine." Why exactly nine if there were seven cities? Could one city have several mages? Does each city have its own circle, with nine mages there too? Does the first in the circle have a substitute? (Let's call him the Grand Vizier.)
• 在七城联盟（Seven Cities），以及后来的银色联盟（Silver League）中，最强大的法师圈子被称为“九环议会（Circle of Nine）”。为什么正好是九个人，明明只有七座城？一座城可以有多个法师吗？每个城市都有自己的议会，那里也有九个法师吗？议会中的第一位有副手吗？（我们姑且称他为宰相。）
• It is indeed a mystery, one that doesn't have a clear answer as far as I know. I suspect that the original Seven Cities (Al-Imral, Al-Rubit, Al-Safir, Al-Yaqut, Al-Amal, Al-Jamasht and Al-Betyl) originally were ruled by a Circle of Seven. Then other cities started to gain political importance (I'm thinking of Shahibdiya and Manaar) and demanded a seat at the table, turning the Circle of Seven into a Circle of Nine. Regarding the details of the Circle's organization, I don't know.
• 这确实是个谜，据我所知没有一个明确的答案。我怀疑最初的七座城（Al-Imral, Al-Rubit, Al-Safir, Al-Yaqut, Al-Amal, Al-Jamasht 和 Al-Betyl）原本是由七人议会统治的。然后其他城市开始获得政治重要性（我想到了 Shahibdiya 和 Manaar），并要求有一席之地，将七人议会变成了九人议会。关于议会组织的细节，我不知道。

• What is the Shanti civilization? Why did it fall? How was its society organized?
• 什么是杉提瑞文明？它为什么衰落？它的社会是如何组织的？
• The Shantiri Empire was basically Ashan's version of Atlantis: a great, lost civilization of eons past, providing the world with lots of powerful artifacts, forbidden knowledge and mysterious ruins. All that is known about their disappearance is the fact it happened during the Elder Wars, when the Angels and Faceless were raining destruction across Ashan. It's also hinted in places that Void magic may have been involved... Possibly, the Shantiri tried to undo the horrors of the Elder Wars and ended up destroying themselves instead, partially erasing their own history in the process. Only Erwan knows the truth...
• 杉提瑞帝国基本上是亚山版本的亚特兰蒂斯：一个伟大的、失落的上古文明，为世界提供了大量强大的神器、禁忌知识和神秘的遗迹。关于他们的消失，唯一已知的事实是它发生在远古战争期间，当时天使和无面者正在亚山各地倾泻毁灭。一些地方也暗示可能涉及虚空魔法……也许，杉提瑞试图消除远古战争的恐怖，结果却毁灭了自己，并在此过程中部分抹去了他们自己的历史。只有 Erwan 知道真相……

• The Shantiri Empire was inhabited by all the peoples of Ashan, but it is stated that wild human tribes existed further north. But in those ancient times, did the dwarves inhabit their northern mountains, and the elves their forests? And did all the races that lived in the Shantiri Empire each have their own culture, clothing style, and so on, or were they all more "standardized?" Were there also separate tribes of beings outside the Shantini civilization?
• 杉提瑞帝国居住着亚山的所有民族，但据说更北边存在着野生的人类部落。但在那个上古时代，矮人住在北方的山脉里，精灵住在森林里吗？居住在杉提瑞帝国的所有种族是否各有各的文化、服饰风格等，还是说他们都更加“标准化”？在杉提瑞文明之外是否也存在独立的生物部落？
• I see it as very similar to the Roman Empire. As it “incorporated” new cultures, it changed them and changed itself to an extent. Tribes and kingdoms existed outside of the Empire, but they were considerably more primitive in comparison, so it remained the “beacon of civilization” for that age.
• 我看这和罗马帝国非常相似。当它“吞并”新文化时，它改变了它们，也在一定程度上改变了自己。部落和王国存在于帝国之外，但相比之下它们要原始得多，所以帝国仍然是那个时代的“文明灯塔”。

• Did the Shantini dwarves have tune magic? Who taught the dwarves rune magic?
• 杉提瑞的矮人有符文魔法吗？谁教给矮人符文魔法的？
• I'm pretty sure Rune Magic was something the Dwarves got from Arkath himself, so I expect the Shantiri Dwarves were also able to use it.
• 我非常确定符文魔法是矮人从阿尔卡斯本人那里得到的，所以我预计杉提瑞矮人也能够使用它。

• Tell us about the fate of the angels of the Red Church. What happened to them when the deception was revealed? Did they remain with the people or join the demons?
• 说说红教堂（Red Church）天使们的命运。当欺骗被揭露后，他们发生了什么？他们是留在人间还是加入了恶魔？
• I don't know for sure, but wouldn't it be a great time for the fallen angel Sarah to come out of hiding and lead them?
• 我不太确定，但如果堕天使萨拉在这个时候走出隐居并领导他们，岂不是很棒？

• Why is there a greenish glow on the undead in Part 6? Is it Namtaru's poison? Why did it later turn purple? Is this the color of primal magic or dark magic? Something else? Tell us about the dark energy in the heroes of Part 5 from a lore perspective, how do you see it?
• 为什么六代的不死生物有绿光？是娜姆塔茹的毒药吗？为什么后来变成了紫色？这是原初魔法还是黑暗魔法的颜色？还是别的什么？从传说的角度告诉我们五代英雄中的黑暗能量，您是怎么看待它的？
• The green glow is supposed to be a sign of Namtaru venom and thus Namtaru magic. As the Namtarus went into slumber, the Necromancers started to rely more on Dark magic as a source of power, hence the purple teint seen in Heroes VII. But apart from the lore explanation, it probably also has a lot to do with VFX artists following Undead visual tropes.
• 绿光应该是娜姆塔茹毒液以及娜姆塔茹魔法的标志。随着娜姆塔茹进入沉睡，亡灵巫师开始更多地依赖黑暗魔法作为力量来源，因此在《英雄无敌七》中看到了紫色的色调。但除了传说上的解释，这可能很大程度上也与视觉特效艺术家遵循不死族的视觉套路有关。

• Heroes 6 was a challenging project in terms of development and support. We know another campaign with Ignatius was planned. Why was that campaign abandoned? What prompted the decision to suspend support for the game? Part 6 is interesting in its own way, the Shades of Darkness expansion was excellent. Perhaps they should have released a few more expansions with playable races? (Perhaps they should have implemented all nine in the game; we've never had a game where we met all the famous Ashan factions together.)
• 《英雄无敌六》在开发和支持方面是一个具有挑战性的项目。我们知道还计划了另一个关于伊格内修斯的战役。为什么那个战役被放弃了？是什么促使决定暂停对游戏的支持？六代有其自身的趣味，暗影黎明的资料片很棒。也许他们应该发布更多可玩种族的资料片？（也许他们应该在游戏中实现全部九个阵营；我们从未有过一款游戏让我们见到所有著名的亚山阵营在一起。）
• Ignatius' tale was not supposed to be a whole campaign, but an Adventure Pack similar to the ones we did with Crag Hack and Sandro. The original plan was actually to have three adventures, seen through the eyes of three heroes: Crag Hack, Ignatius and Solmyr. Each would have introduced a couple of Academy units, until the full faction was available. The thread tying the stories together was the Flower of Dolor... This eventually became the basis of Heroes VII's Academy campaign, although with other characters. And of course Solmyr would also appear in Heroes VII, at long last. Ignatius' story would have revolved around his effort to escape Sheogh and becoming human again, being one of the few “good” Inferno heroes. In the end, Kurt was able to find room in Duel of Champions for a version of that story. Nothing would be wasted if we could avoid it! When the relationship with Black Hole ended, we had to come up with a new plan, and that's when it became independent stories with Crag Hack and Sandro instead.
• 伊格内修斯的故事不应该是一个完整的战役，而是一个类似于我们为肯洛·哈格和桑德罗做的冒险包。最初的计划实际上是做三个冒险，通过三位英雄的视角：肯洛·哈格, 伊格内修斯和索梅尔。每一个都会引入几个学院单位，直到完整的阵营可用。将故事串联起来的线索是哀伤之花……这最终成为了《英雄无敌七》学院战役的基础，尽管换了其他角色。当然，索梅尔也会最终出现在《英雄无敌七》中。伊格内修斯的故事本该围绕着他努力逃离谢尔戈并变回人类展开，他是少数“善良”的地狱英雄之一。最后，Kurt 在《冠军对决》中为这个故事的版本找到了位置。如果我们能避免浪费，什么都不会被浪费！当与黑洞工作室的关系结束后，我们不得不制定一个新计划，于是就变成了关于肯洛·哈格和桑德罗的独立故事。

• Tell us a little more about the afterlife. Do beings associated with Asha have the right to reincarnation or to move to the spirit world, while demons are always reincarnated?
• 详细说说来世（afterlife）。与亚莎相关的生物有权转世或进入灵界，而恶魔总是转世吗？
• As I recall, this is covered in detail in the Ashan Compendium.
• 据我所忆，《亚山纲要》中有详细的介绍。

• What did the Angel Cities look like? Could we see them as a separate faction in some game? If so, what would their lineup be?
• 天使城市是什么样子的？我们能在某些游戏中把它们作为一个独立阵营看到吗？如果是这样，他们的阵容会是什么？
• Silver castles built on floating islands, far above the clouds... The final mission of Heroes VI on the “Tears” path, takes place in one of those cities (as best as we could recreate it within H6).
• 建在浮岛上的银色城堡，远在云端之上……《英雄无敌六》“眼泪”路线的最后一关就发生在其中一座城市里（在我们力所能及的范围内尽可能还原）。

• Who are the nights and dark reapers from Heroes 5 and 7? What is their nature?
• 死灵和掠魂死镰来自《英雄无敌五》和七，他们是什么？他们的本质是什么？
• The wight is a very powerful type of ghost, almost a "Death elemental" if there was such a thing. The grim riders/ grim reapers from Heroes VII are vampire knights who used to be part of Vein's retinue (himself was known as the “Reaper of Souls”).
• 死灵是一种非常强大的幽灵，如果存在“死亡元素”的话，他几乎就是一个“死亡元素生物”。《英雄无敌七》中的 惊魂幽骑 /掠魂死镰 是吸血鬼骑士，他们曾经是凡恩的随从（他自己被称为“灵魂收割者”）。

• In the artwork for the mage faction that didn't make it to the final six, there were girls with daggers. They were also present in the Champions' Duel. What are they? Living beings or spirits? If spirits, what element are they related to?
• 在未进入最终六个阵营的法师阵营的艺术作品中，有一些拿着匕首的女孩。她们也出现在《冠军对决》中。她们是什么？活物还是灵体？如果是灵体，她们与什么元素相关？
• I'm not sure what the exact plan was, but I think they were supposed to be blade dancers of some kind. They were leaning more on the “One Thousand and One Nights” theme than actual Academy lore. While the unit itself was never used (except as cards in Duel of Champions, if I'm not mistaken), the artwork was the basis for a couple of NPC portraits in MMXL.
• 我不确定确切的计划是什么，但我想她们本该是某种刃舞者（Blade dancers）。她们更倾向于“一千零一夜”的主题，而不是真正的学院派传说。虽然这个单位本身从未被使用过（除非我记错了，在《冠军对决》中作为卡牌出现过），但这些艺术作品成为了《魔法门十》中几个 NPC 肖像的基础。

• Is it possible to find detailed campaign stories from games that are no longer available? For example, Guardians of the Elements, Duel of Champions, Heroes Online, Kingdoms of Heroes, etc.?
• 有可能找到不再可用的游戏的详细战役故事吗？例如，《元素守护者》、《冠军对决》、《英雄在线》、《英雄王国》等？
• You'll have to ask Erwan or the current stewards of the franchise at Ubisoft. My involvement with those games was minimal.
• 你得问 Erwan 或育碧当前的《魔法门》负责人。我与这些游戏的关联微乎其微。

• Did we see all the beastmen, or were there more planned? Could you please tell us more about the ratmen, jackalmen, and hawkmen? The latter seem more civilized; did they stay with the Mages?
• 我们看到了所有的兽人了吗，还是有计划更多？能否请您详细介绍一下鼠人、豺狼人和鹰身人（Hawkmen）？后者似乎更文明；他们留在了法师身边吗？
• Clearly Agar and his disciples went a bit overboard with the whole Beastman thing :D Joke aside, Beastmen were an inspiring topic for artists, and I know Duel of Champions came up with a bunch of new species for their Academy deck... I'm not so sure about their status in the Ashan canon however.
• 显然阿伽和他的弟子们在兽人这件事上有点做过头了 :D 撇开玩笑不谈，兽人是艺术家们的灵感来源，我知道《冠军对决》为他们的学院卡组想出了一堆新物种……不过我不太确定它们在亚山正史中的地位。

• Also, please tell us more about the Taurts and sand sharks.
• 另外，请告诉我们更多关于 Taurts（可能是 Turtles 乌龟）和沙鲨（Sand Sharks）。
• [批注: Turtles, I suppose?] Ashan is home to many wondrous creatures, and Duel of Champions was a good place to finally show them. Beyond that, there's not much I can say, they are essentially wild animals.
• [批注: 我想是乌龟吧？] Ashan 是许多奇妙生物的家园，《冠军对决》是一个最终展示它们的好地方。除此之外，我没什么可说的，它们基本上是野生动物。

• In Elemental Guardians, we were shown some constructs created by the dwarves. It's said that they were created/developed in collaboration with mages. Is there any speculation about a similar alliance/technology exchange between the factions? If so, when did it happen? Or is it hard to consider it canon?
• 在《元素守护者》中，我们看到了一些矮人创造的结构体。据说它们是矮人与法师合作创造/开发的。关于阵营之间类似的联盟/技术交流有什么推测吗？如果有，是什么时候发生的？还是很难将其视为正史？
• I was only involved with early story brainstorms for Elemental Guardians, I don't know what their plan was.
• 我只参与了《元素守护者》早期的头脑风暴，我不知道他们的计划是什么。

• Was there a planned storyline for Might & Magic Showdown? If so, could you tell us about it?
• 《魔法门：对决》有计划的剧情吗？如果有，能告诉我们吗？
• I was contacted by the Showdown team fairly late in the process. They had been developing their game using the 3D models and assets from Heroes, but it was very much its own thing, with no consideration for the lore of Ashan. They wanted to add a story, but they didn't want to pretend this was part of the continuity. They wanted something light and “tongue in cheek”. They kept mentioning Deadpool as a reference for the tone. After mulling it over and a few discussions with Erwan, I came up with the following idea: since the game was looking like miniatures on a table, we should embrace that and have an offscreen “game master” trying to tell a serious tale in Ashan, but facing players who keep disregarding the story and taking it off the rails. As a tabletop roleplayer and game master, this was a very relatable situation :D But the team felt it was a bit too “meta”, even in light of the Deadpool reference. So in the end we agreed it would simply be a pulpy story of Crag Hack going on silly adventures presented like old school D&D modules. And then the game was cancelled just when I was starting writing it.
• 对决团队在流程后期联系了我。他们一直在使用《英雄无敌》的 3D 模型和素材开发游戏，但这很大程度上是它自己的东西，没有考虑亚山的传说。他们想加个故事，但不想假装这是连续性的一部分。他们想要轻松和“搞笑（tongue in cheek）”的风格。他们一直提到死侍（Deadpool）作为参考。经过深思熟虑和与 Erwan 的讨论，我想出了以下想法：既然游戏看起来像桌布上的微缩模型，我们应该接受这一点，让一个画外的“游戏管理员（GM）”试图讲述一个严肃的亚山故事，但面对那些不断无视故事并把剧情带偏的玩家。作为一个桌面角色扮演者和游戏管理员，这是一种非常有共鸣的情况 :D 但团队觉得这有点太“元（Meta）”了，即使有死侍作为参考。所以最后我们同意这只是一个低俗（Pulpy）的故事，关于肯洛·哈格进行愚蠢的冒险，就像老派的 D&D 模组。然后就在我开始写的时候，游戏被取消了。

• In MMX, we encounter references to a tribe of badger and fox people. Were they planned to appear again in the plot? Perhaps these people would have appeared somewhere in the east, or we would have encountered artifacts created by them? Tell us more about them.
• 在魔法门十中，我们遇到了对獾人和狐人部落的提及。他们计划在剧情中再次出现吗？也许这些人会出现在东方的某个地方，或者我们会遇到他们制造的神器？详细说说他们。
• They were early tribes of Ylath-worshiping humans, like the Falcon, Griffin, Wolf, etc. They refused to bend the knee to Ronan Falcon and were destroyed. They might still have descendants among the "modern" duchies though. Maybe at some point we could have met a human with the family name "Badger" and an interesting family history.
• 他们是早期崇拜伊拉斯的人类部落，就像猎鹰，狮鹫，恶狼等一样。他们拒绝向罗南·法尔肯屈膝，被消灭了。不过，他们可能在“现代”公国中仍有后裔。也许在某个时候我们会遇到一个姓“獾（Badger）”的人，有着有趣的家史。

• Erwan told us about the Church of Asha. Can you talk about their relationship with necromancers? It seems like they might have been enemies. At some point, did they try to weave them more into the plot?
• Erwan 告诉了我们关于亚莎教会的事。您能谈谈他们与亡灵巫师的关系吗？似乎他们可能是敌人。在某个时候，他们是否试图把他们更多地编织进剧情？
• If I'm not mistaken, the orders of the White Weavers, Blind Brothers and Silent Sisters form the Church of Asha. The Blind Brothers at least appear quite a bit in the stories, being the ones to predict the various Bloodmoon Eclipses.
• 如果我没记错，白织者（White Weavers）、盲眼兄弟会（Blind Brothers）和沉默姐妹会（Silent Sisters）组成了亚莎教会。至少盲眼兄弟会在故事中出现的次数很多，是他们预言了各种血月日蚀。

• We really enjoyed how you started to detail and expand the game lore, weaving subfactions into the main factions. Did you cover all the subfactions you had planned, or were there any other plans? Do you have any more information about the Black Skull Orcs?
• 我们真的很喜欢您开始详细阐述和扩展游戏传说，将子阵营编织进主阵营。您涵盖了所有计划中的子阵营吗，还是有其他计划？您有更多关于黑颅兽人（Black Skull Orcs）的信息吗？
• Blackskull Orcs are outcasts living in the Dragons' Causeway region. To quote my own map of Ashan: "The Blackskull Orcs were corrupted by a Chaos Nexus that reawakened the worst instincts sleeping in their demonic blood. Rejected by their own kin, this renegade tribe now hides within the mountains of the Dragons' Causeway, attacking travelers and caravans." They were originally created as a subset of Stronghold cards for Duel of Champions. I had big plans for them in a tentative Might & Magic XI, and they would have probably inspired a couple of neutral units in the second expansion of Heroes VII, since they are Shanriya's neighbors.
• 黑颅兽人（Blackskull Orcs）是生活在龙脉（Dragons' Causeway）地区的弃儿。引用我自己的亚山地图：“黑颅兽人被一个混沌枢纽腐化了，这唤醒了沉睡在他们恶魔血液中的最坏本能。被自己的同胞排斥，这个叛徒部落现在躲在龙脉的山脉中，袭击旅行者和商队。”他们最初是为《冠军对决》作为据点的子集卡牌创造的。我在暂定的《魔法门11》中为他们制定了宏大的计划，而且由于他们是 Shanriya 的邻居，他们可能会启发《英雄无敌七》第二个资料片中的几个中立单位。

• There was a comic called "Soeurs de Sang" Might and Magic. From what we've heard, more than one comic was planned. Do you have any plot ideas or anything you could share about it?
• 曾经有一部漫画叫《Might and Magic: Soeurs de Sang》。据我们所知，计划不止一本漫画。您有什么情节构思或可以分享的东西吗？
• The comic book was written by Jeff Spock. I think he hoped to turn it into a trilogy, chronicling various stages of the life of Cate Griffin (Slava's wife and mother of Anton, etc.). In the first tome we discover that the woman we know as “Cate” is actually her twin sister Deirdre. Deirdre was supposed to marry Duke Gerhart Wolf, while Cate was Slava's betrothed. Cate was killed by Dark Elf infiltrators, and Deirdre took her sister's place to escape her marriage to Gerhart. I believe the following tomes would have explained how “Cate” eventually becomes a Dragon Knight of Malassa. Malassa is the Keeper of Secrets and Cate's whole life is a pretty big one at that point!
• 这部漫画是 Jeff Spock 写的。我想他希望能把它变成三部曲，记载凯特·格里芬（斯拉瓦的妻子，安东等人的母亲）人生的不同阶段。在第一册中，我们发现我们认识的“凯特”其实是她的双胞胎姐妹迪尔德丽。迪尔德丽本该嫁给盖尔哈特公爵，而凯特是斯拉瓦的未婚妻。凯特被黑暗精灵渗透者杀害，迪尔德丽为了逃避与盖尔哈特的婚姻而顶替了她姐姐的位置。我相信接下来的几册会解释“迪尔德丽”最终是如何成为马拉萨的龙骑士的。马拉萨是秘密的守护者，而在那一刻，凯特的整个人生都是一个巨大的秘密！

• Would you further develop the connection between the Old Universe and Ashan? If so, how? Would you allow for a complete crossover/merge? Should all crossovers in MM10 be considered canon?
• 您会进一步发展旧宇宙和亚山之间的联系吗？如果是，怎么做？您会允许完全的跨界/合并吗？魔法门十中的所有跨界都应该被视为正史吗？
• Erwan allowed me to include some nods and references to the old worlds of Might & Magic, even some rather direct ones in MMXL, but was very clear that Ashan should remain primarily a world of magic with no spaceships or robots. “The Void” is mentioned in both continuities, it’s the thing that unites both sides of the lore. So my approach was to say that Ashan exists on one “side” of the Void and the “Ancient worlds” exist on the other. It would not have gotten more explicit than what you saw in MMXL.
• Erwan 允许我加入一些对旧《魔法门》世界的点头和致敬，甚至在魔法门十中加入了一些相当直接的致敬，但他非常清楚亚山应该主要是一个魔法世界，没有宇宙飞船或机器人。“虚空”在两个连续性中都被提及，它是连接传说两面的东西。所以我的方法是说亚山存在于虚空的一侧，而“古代世界”存在于另一侧。它不会比你在魔法门十中看到的更明确。

• Do you think we'll return to Ashan again? What would you say now? Or should we reset the universe? How do you feel about returning to the old universe?
• 您认为我们会重返亚山吗？您现在会怎么说？还是我们应该重置宇宙？您对重返旧宇宙感觉如何？
• It's out of our hands now. You'll have to ask the current M&M team about their plans. Regarding the return to Enroth, I'm split. On one hand, I love that world and I'm happy to revisit familiar places and faces, especially by giving some spotlight to the continent of Jadame. On the other, I wonder how faithful it will be to the original lore. In any case I wish the team the best. More Might & Magic is always good in my book, and I'll be happy to spend many hours in the new game, this time as a “simple” fan.
• 这现在已经不在我们的掌控之中了。你得问现任的魔法门团队他们的计划。关于重返恩洛斯，我很矛盾。一方面，我爱那个世界，我很高兴能重访熟悉的地方和面孔，特别是让贾达姆大陆成为焦点。另一方面，我怀疑它对原始传说的还原度会有多高。无论如何，我祝愿团队一切顺利。在我看来，更多的《魔法门》总是好事，这次作为“普通”粉丝，我会很高兴在新游戏中度过许多小时。

• Is there anything else about Ashan that we haven't asked about that you'd like to tell us?
• 关于亚山还有什么我们没有问到的，您想告诉我们的吗？
• I was hoping to explore the Shrouded South at some point. I had a name for the continent (Kerad) and alternate versions of the main factions (a human-centric Stronghold, Haven as a faction of Egyptian-themed Angels, Void-themed Necropolis with undead Shantiri nethermancers...). Oh well!
• 我希望在某个时候探索被遮蔽的南方（Shrouded South）。我给这块大陆起好了名字（Kerad），以及主要阵营的替代版本（一个以人类为中心的据点，圣堂是埃及主题天使的阵营，虚空主题的亡灵堡垒配有亡灵杉提瑞虚空法师……）。唉，算了！

• Can you tell us about any unannounced or cancelled games we don't know about? It would be great if you could share some art, plot, or anything else.
• 您能告诉我们任何未公布或已取消的游戏吗？如果我们不知道的话。如果能分享一些艺术图、剧情或其他什么都太好了。
• We almost did a Dungeon DLC for Clash of Heroes, and a Clash of Heroes 2 was also considered at some point. Unfortunately, I don't remember what the story was supposed to be. I think it involved the great Elemental Forges. A fun game that was in development but ultimately cancelled was Might & Magic Raiders. There was even a trailer for it, so fans may remember it. It was a hack'n'slash adventure set in the Free City of Hammer Fall. Several NPC from that game found their way into MMXL (as well as some music tracks, as both projects shared the same composer Roc Chen), and a few plot points were reused in the Haven campaign of Heroes VII.
• 我们差点做了一个《英雄交锋》的地牢DLC，也曾一度考虑过《英雄交锋2》。不幸的是，我不记得剧情应该是什么了。我想它涉及伟大的元素熔炉（Elemental Forges）。一个开发但最终被取消的有趣游戏是《魔法门：突袭者（Raiders）》。甚至还有它的预告片，所以粉丝们可能还记得。这是一款设定在自由城邦落锤镇（Hammer Fall）的砍杀类冒险游戏。那个游戏中的几个 NPC 进入了魔法门十（以及部分音乐，因为两个项目共享作曲家 Roc Chen），还有一些情节点在《英雄无敌七》的圣堂战役中被重用了。

• How would you imagine the plot unfolding after the events of Dark Messiah? It seems Ashan has reached a dead end. It's as if the developers deliberately avoided this moment, as if they didn't know how to continue the story. Tell us how you resolved this plot twist. We understand this is unofficial, but I'm just curious about your opinion. Would we have seen this in Dark Messiah 2, or did the game end where Dark Messiah left off?
• 您如何看待《黑暗弥赛亚》之后的剧情发展？似乎亚山已经走到了死胡同。就好像开发者故意回避这一刻，好像他们不知道如何继续故事。告诉我们您是如何解决这个情节的转折的。我们明白这是非官方的，但我只是好奇您的意见。我们会在《黑暗弥赛亚2》中看到这一点，还是游戏就在《黑暗弥赛亚》结束的地方结束了？
• Dark Messiah 2 was in development around 2015, but sadly was cancelled along with our plans for more Heroes VII expansions, as recalled above. DM2 was an ambitious and exciting project, and its cancellation breaks my heart even a decade later. The idea was for it to take place in a "mystical reflection" of Stonehelm. You would have played Raelag (with the possibility as embracing stealth, magic or melee combat), now a Dragon Knight in training (still struggling to find his “inner dragon”). Raelag arrives in Stonehelm just as the whole city is engulfed in light (basically what we briefly see in the ending cutscene of DM1). Stonehelm now exists partially in the Spirit World in a sort of "primordial bubble", the Rift, and it's slowly corrupting the lands around it. Whatever happening inside the city must be stopped before all of Ashan is consumed. Within the Rift, Raelag would be guided by the spirit of Tieru (acting as a sort of sarcastic “mission control”), and would meet some old friends like Zehir, who has also come to investigate the phenomenon. Some parts of Stonehelm have been overwhelmed by elemental magic, so there would be an Earth district, a Fire district, etc. The idea was to have an “interconnected” structure, much like in Metroid or Dark Souls, and some areas would change elements over time. The place is overrun by demons, corrupted humans, remnants of Arantir's undead armies and magical creatures driven mad. Eventually, Raelag discovers that because Sareth's fate is in flux and the whole of Ashan hangs on his decision, the world is basically freezing around him. It's like multiple timelines conflicting with each other, with poor Leanna being simultaneously alive and dead for instance. Kha-Beleth is here too, and wants Sareth to embrace his role as the Dark Messiah to bring down the walls of Sheogh. Raelag also discovers that he was always part of Sar-Shazzar's prophecy: one of the stanzas mentions the “daughter of fire” as well as her “glory” and “everlasting torment”. He realizes that this refers to Tuidhana and as her first-born son, he is her “glory”. That's why Kha-Beleth conspired to turn him into Agrael, as a means to control all aspects of the prophecy. But he could never have expected Agrael to fall in love with Isabel, which would lead him to reclaim his true nature and become a Dragon Knight. Ultimately, Zehir—always the smartest man in the room—figures out that Order cannot exist without Chaos and vice-versa. The scenario where Sareth banishes the demons forever would break the world just as surely as the scenario where he joins forces with Kha-Beleth to wage war against Asha's creation. But there's another way: Sareth can become the Dark Messiah and open the gates of Sheogh... but also lead the demons himself, seeking cohabitation rather than endless war. Of course, this can't happen while Kha-Beleth is around to whisper in his ear. Which leads to a final battle pitting our heroes against old Kha, who reveals his true identity and form... whatever they may be :D (We were still debating ^) Oh, and there was also a final rematch between Raelag and his old nemesis Veyer, who would turn into a massive Avatar of Destruction. As Sareth embraces his destiny on his own terms, a new balance between Order and Chaos is reached and Ashan is deeply changed as result... paving the way for new lands, new factions, new characters, etc. And an open horizon for stories.
• 《黑暗弥赛亚2》大约在 2015 年开发中，但遗憾的是随着我们更多《英雄无敌七》资料片的计划一起被取消了，如上所述。黑米2是一个雄心勃勃且令人兴奋的项目，即使十年过去了，它的取消仍让我心碎。这个想法是让它发生在石盔（Stonehelm）的一个“神秘镜像”中。你将扮演雷拉格（可以选择潜行、魔法或近战），他现在是一名正在受训的龙骑士（仍在努力寻找他的“内在巨龙”）。雷拉格到达石盔时，整座城市正被光芒吞没（基本上就是我们短暂看到的黑暗弥赛亚一结局过场动画）。石盔现在部分存在于灵界，处于一种“原初气泡”中，即裂痕（Rift），它正在慢慢腐蚀周围的陆地。必须阻止城内发生的事情，以免整个亚山被吞噬。在裂痕内部，雷拉格将由蒂耶鲁的灵魂引导（充当一种讽刺的“任务控制中心”），并会见一些老朋友，比如泽希尔，他也来调查这一现象。石盔的某些部分已经被元素魔法淹没，所以会有土区、火区等。这个想法是拥有一个“互连”的结构，很像《银河战士》或《黑暗之魂》，有些区域会随时间改变元素。这个地方挤满了恶魔、被腐化的人类、阿兰蒂尔亡灵军队的残余以及发狂的魔法生物。最终，雷拉格发现因为塞拉斯的命运悬而未决，整个亚山都悬在他周围。这就像多条时间线相互冲突，比如可怜的莉娜同时活着和死了。卡-贝勒斯也在这里，他想让塞拉斯接受他作为黑暗弥赛亚的角色，以此推倒谢尔戈的围墙。雷拉格还发现他一直是萨-沙扎预言的一部分：其中一节提到了“火之女儿”以及她的“荣耀”和“永恒的折磨”。他意识到这是指图德哈娜，作为她的长子，他就是她的“荣耀”。这就是为什么卡-贝勒斯密谋把他变成阿格雷尔，以此来控制预言的方方面面。但他绝没想到阿格雷会爱上伊莎贝尔，这导致他找回了真我并成为了一名龙骑士。最终，泽希尔——永远是房间里最聪明的人——弄清楚了秩序不能没有混沌，反之亦然。塞拉斯永远驱逐恶魔的场景会像他加入卡-贝勒斯向亚莎的造物开战一样的确会打破世界。但还有另一种方式：塞拉斯可以成为黑暗弥赛亚并打开谢尔戈的大门……但也亲自领导恶魔，寻求共存而不是无尽的战争。当然，只要卡-贝勒斯还在耳边低语，这就不可能发生。这就导致了一场最终决战，让我们的英雄对抗老卡，他揭示了他的真实身份和形态……不管它们是什么 :D（我们当时还在争论^）哦，还有一场雷拉格和他的宿敌维亚尔的最终复战，维亚尔会变成一个巨大的毁灭化身（Avatar of Destruction）。随着塞拉斯按照自己的意愿拥抱命运，秩序与混沌之间达成了新的平衡，亚山也因此发生了深刻的变化……为新土地、新阵营、新角色等铺平了道路。以及故事的广阔地平线。

• Do you have any trophies, souvenirs, maps, tablets, or anything else unique and related to Ashan? Perhaps a collector's edition that's never been available for sale? If so, could you show it?
• 您有奖杯、纪念品、地图、石碑或任何其他独特的且与亚山相关的东西吗？也许是从未出售过的收藏版？如果有，能展示一下吗？
• I don't have anything of the sort, sorry.
• 抱歉，我没有这类东西。

• What do you think of hero-themed games (like Songs of Conquest)? Would you consider making something similar yourself?
• 您对英雄主题游戏（如《征服之歌》）有何看法？您会考虑自己制作类似的东西吗？
• I've tried them all but so far they haven't scratched that Heroes itch as well as the real deal.
• 我都试过了，但到目前为止，它们都没有像真正的《英雄无敌》那样挠到痒处。

• What do you think of Olden Era and Fate? Do you like these games?
• 您对《上古纪元》和《命运》有什么看法？您喜欢这些游戏吗？
• I'm not interested in Fates but I can't wait for Olden Era. I enjoyed the demo.
• 我对命运不感兴趣，但我迫不及待想玩《上古纪元》。试玩版我很喜欢。

• Is there any chance we'll get MM XI from you? We loved MM X, we really wanted a sequel, and we were very upset that Part 1 wasn't greenlit. Tell us more about the plot you were planning.
• 我们有可能从您这里得到 MM XI 吗？我们爱死 MM X 了，我们真的很想要续作，我们对第一部没有被批准感到非常难过。详细说说您计划中的剧情。
• Unfortunately, I'm not working at Ubisoft anymore and I don't own the rights to Might & Magic, so if there's a MM11 it won't come from me (but never say never I guess!) My pitch for MM11 (codenamed “Odyssey”, which sounded like a nice follow-up to “Legacy”) was for it to take place in the Dragons' Causeway, east of the Holy Empire. It would have featured the Free City of Stormcliff, the Shanriya Nagas, Blackskull orcs, the Helexia monastery, Ostgerd dwarves... Gameplay-wise, I wanted to go for something a little more modern, with real-time movement but still turn-based battles, more in line with MM6-8 but not exactly similar (I love those games but by today's standards they are clunky). Playable species would have included Minotaurs and Nagas. There would have been a travelling village (a caravan of sort) which would have followed the player across the land and would have been upgraded over the course of the journey, adding new shops, new NPC... I had lots of ideas.
• 不幸的是，我已经不在育碧工作了，也不拥有《魔法门》的版权，所以如果要有魔法门11，也不会来自我（但我想永远别说永远！）我对魔法门11的提案（代号“奥德赛 Odyssey”，听起来像是“遗产 Legacy”的一个不错后续）是让它发生在神圣帝国东部的龙脉（Dragons' Causeway）。它会以自由城邦风暴崖（Stormcliff）、Shanriya 娜迦、黑颅兽人、Helexia 修道院、Ostgerd 矮人为特色……在玩法方面，我想做一些更现代化的东西，有实时移动但仍然回合制战斗，更符合魔法门六到八，但不完全一样（我爱那些游戏，但以今天的标准来看它们很笨拙）。可玩物种会包括牛头怪和娜迦。会有一个旅行的村庄（一种大篷车），它会跟着玩家穿越陆地，并在旅程中升级，增加新的商店、新的 NPC……我有很多想法。

• Tell us about your departure from Ubisoft. It must be very difficult to leave the development of a game you're a fan of.
• 说说您离开育碧的事。离开一款您作为粉丝热爱的游戏的开发一定很难吧。
• I worked 10 years at Ubisoft: 7 years in Ubisoft Partners working mainly on Might & Magic titles, and the rest in the Editorial Department, doing creative support for projects such as Anno 1800, The Settlers, For Honor: Marching Fire, Watch Dogs Legion... But after 10 years, I felt the time had come to move on and seek new adventures. And to be honest, a lot of the magic was gone after the closure of Ubisoft Partners.
• 我在育碧工作了 10 年：前 7 年在 Ubisoft Partners 主要做《魔法门》相关工作，其余时间在编辑部，为《Anno 1800》、《 settlers》、《For Honor: Marching Fire》、《Watch Dogs Legion》等项目做创意支持……但 10 年后，我觉得是时候向前看，寻求新的冒险了。老实说，在 Ubisoft Partners 关闭后，很多魔力都消失了。

• Would you change anything in Ashan? For example, the factions or the storyline.
• 您会改变亚山的任何东西吗？比如阵营或故事情节。
• I would try to convince Erwan to move beyond the Dark Messiah cliffhanger way sooner. I think we spent too much time (and too many games) stuck in the past where we should have moved forward.
• 我会试着说服 Erwan 尽早走出《黑暗弥赛亚》的悬崖勒马（指那个未完结的悬念）。我觉得我们在过去停留了太长时间（以及太多的游戏），而本该向前走。

• What are you working on now? New game projects, anything else?
• 您现在在做什么？新的游戏项目，还有其他事吗？
• After working as a freelance for a couple of years, I was contacted by my old friends at Limbic Entertainment (the developers of MMXL and H7) and was made an offer to join them as creative director. I'm still there, working on some cool projects. One of them, Corsair Cove, was announced a few days ago. Apart from that, I've been writing and publishing my own tabletop roleplaying game. One of them is called Lore & Legacy, and if the title was not enough of a hint, it's heavily inspired by my love for the old science-fantasy worlds of Might & Magic (especially the Xeen games). I even released it in English, so feel free to have a look if you're curious.
• 做了几年自由职业者后，我的老朋友 Limbic Entertainment（《魔法门十》和《英雄无敌七》的开发商）联系了我，向我提供了一个创意总监的职位。我现在还在那里，做一些很酷的项目。其中一个叫《Corsair Cove》，几天前刚公布。除此之外，我一直在撰写和出版我自己的桌面角色扮演游戏。其中一个叫《Lore & Legacy》，如果标题暗示得还不够明显的话，它深受我对《魔法门》旧科幻奇幻世界（尤其是席恩系列）的热爱所启发。我甚至还发布了英文版，如果你好奇的话可以去看看。

• Is it possible that you will return to the MM brand (as a writer or modder)? Maybe we will see the last part of LotA or something else (although, to be honest, I would be more interested in something about Ashan)?
• 您有可能回归魔法门品牌吗（作为作家或模组作者）？也许我们会看到 LotA 的最后一部分或其他什么（虽然老实说，我会对关于亚山的东西更感兴趣 😊）？
• Right now it's not in the cards, but who knows what the future might bring?
• 现在还没有这个计划，但谁知道未来会带来什么呢？

A huge thank you from me and our community for the games you've developed! These games are dear to us, thanks for Might and Magic 10, Heroes 6, and Heroes 7 and others; we loved them. And a special thank you for taking the time to answer our tricky questions. We'd be very grateful if you could answer any of these. Sincerely, Roman

我和我们的社区非常感谢您开发的游戏！这些游戏对我们来说很珍贵，感谢《魔法门十》、《英雄无敌六》、《英雄无敌七》以及其他作品；我们爱它们。特别感谢您抽出时间回答我们这些刁钻的问题。如果您能回答其中任何一个，我们将不胜感激。真诚的，Roman